The Interrogation of Sarah Jane Smith
by johmichaels
Summary: Sarah Jane Smith has made a big mistake, one which puts the freedom of the entire world at stake, and has made her the enemy of UNIT and the Zygons. With only Kate Stewart providing any form of support, can she ally herself with a former enemy to protect the United Kingdom from invasion?
1. Chapter 1

**Part 1**

The castle was colder than Sarah remembered. She was aware that her memory may be failing her, and details such as temperature were rarely remembered exactly correct. But still, she felt as if there was a chill in the air now. Possibly, since becoming publically owned following the death of the Duke, Forgill Castle is no longer being as well maintained as it had been. But also, she wondered if it was because this was no longer a Castle being lived in, but instead a building for negotiations.

"Why did they choose here?" Sarah asked Kate Stewart, sitting beside her at the large round table, in the otherwise empty room.

"Why not?" Kate asked.

"You've said they are different now. That they only want to live in peace. But then why choose a building used to prepare an invasion force which almost assassinated the Prime Minister."

Kate sighed as if the answer was obvious. "It's about trust. They don't trust us, and we don't trust them. Any location they choose which they think we don't know about they fear will be tagged and bugged by UNIT or another security force. So they choose the one base which they know we know has been used as a base in the past, which they don't use today, hoping we won't try to search for other bases once this has been chosen by them."

"But you do know of their other bases, right?" Sarah asked.

"Of course. That's how I knew about them wanting this meeting," Kate explained. "Espionage, Sarah, is a dance. They make a move, and I make a move. The movements appear random, but as long as the dance continues we are both happy. And when the dancing stops, then people get hurt."

Sarah looked downwards as the implication of Kate's words reached her. "And how far has the dance been to stopping recently?"

"Oh not at all close," Kate stated. "Our relationship with them is stronger than ever. It's you who they are angry at. I'm here strictly as the negotiator and your personal support, not their opponent."

Sarah took Kate's hand. "Thank you for that. I know you weren't pleased by your actions-"

"To put it mildly," Kate answered, pulling the hand away. "Your stumbling caused-"

Kate went silent as the bookcase at the back of the room began the hum, as a rarely used trigger prepared to activate. With a whir, the bookcase turned on its centre, showing a tunnel leading underground, and from the tunnel two middle aged men, and one middle aged woman entered the room. Without a word they walked over to the table to stand opposite Sarah Jane.

Kate stood up to greet the new arrivals. "On behalf of United Nations Intelligence Taskforce of Great Britain, I would like to thank you for approving this meeting."

The three arrivals did not look at Kate, instead glaring at Sarah Jane. She felt their rage, and hatred and avoided their glance.

"This her? This is the woman who damaged the peace and caused our slaughter?" The woman asked.

"No!" Sarah shouted, standing to her feet. "I made mistakes, I accept that. But you will not hold me responsible for the violence. I was as misled as anyone."

"We shall see," the woman said. "That is after all the purpose of this interrogation."

"Interrogation?" Sarah asked, confused, looking to Kate for guidance. "I agreed to meet with you to plan what we do next."

"We need to trust you first!" The woman said with a snarl. "We only can plan with those we know will not sell off our children for attention."

Kate coughed slightly to draw attention to herself. "Perhaps in the spirit of trust we should begin with honest introductions. I am Kate Stewart, Chief Scientific Officer of UNIT in the United Kingdom. This is Sarah Jane Smith, reporter for the Metropolitan."

The woman looked at her two companions and nodded to them both. In unison, their skin began to glow, and their forms changed. Soon the three non-descript humans had been replaced by something very different, yet very familiar to Sarah and Kate. Their large coned shaped heads and orange skin covered with suckers would make it hard for anyone to forget them.

"I am Flast. My companions are Xallon and Vunde. We are representing the Zygon Council in investigating Sarah Jane Smith for the endangerment of the peace, and involvement in the ethnic cleansing of the Zygon race."

"Good," Kate said. "We're all familiar with each other. Shall we get started?"


	2. Chapter 2

_Twelve months ago_

Sarah checked her watch again. It had been five minutes since their agreed upon meeting time. Fifteen minutes since she arrived at the diner. That was too long to be in one place. She needed to be home, back to safety.

Sarah looked around the diner. No one stood out to her, but then again, the whole reason for Zygons to change their shape was to avoid standing out. No one was reacting to her presence at least, that she was sure of. That let her feel slightly less anxious, but she knew the longer she waited here, the more likely they would find her. They didn't know that she had sent off her report, and wouldn't know until the article went public. Once an official response was made, Sarah could rest easy, knowing no one would try to silence her. But Sarah promised not to send her article to UNIT or any other intelligence agencies until after Jeremy Fitzoliver, former co-worker, failed MP and failed photo journalist, turned up to this meeting and explained what he was doing with the evidence she had collected.

Perhaps it was her watch which was wrong. Thankfully, the diner had a television, and like every television in America, it was showing a 24 hour news channel with the current time in one corner. No luck, her watch was correct. She was on time, Jeremy was late.

Sarah looked casually at the main report, but ignored it mostly. Yet another speech by another shouting presidential candidate, talking a lot but saying little. Sarah was never one for politics. Working with the UN on preventing alien invasions behind the scenes meant too many politicians she met were either unaware of the real threats that could harm them, or were aware and actively blocked solutions to them until they could put their name on it. Sadly in America politics was receiving more attention than any other news. If only they knew what happened in Truth or Consequences, maybe the public would be less interested in what an orange faced man shouted about his opponents.

That train of thought temporarily took control of Sarah Jane's attention enough that she didn't notice when Jeremy Fitzoliver, formerly of the Metropolitan, formerly of the House of Commons, and very briefly formerly of the TARDIS, entered and sat down on the chair opposite of Sarah.

"He is mesmerising isn't he?" Jeremy asked, following Sarah's gaze to the news report. "A real change in Washington. Just what this country needs."

Jeremy had a knack of not only suddenly bringing Sarah back to reality, but disappointing her at the same time.

"I've been here for fifteen minutes Jeremy. Where were you?" She asked with a strong hiss.

"Well, you know how it is. I was actually watching one of the candidate's speeches and time got away from me. You can see how good it is at whipping up the crowds. The public love him, maybe that's where I made my mistakes as an MP. Didn't listen enough to the public."

Sarah knew the main reason Jeremy's career as a politician ended poorly in England was due to a scandal involving him using taxpayer's expenses to build himself a duck pond, and being caught before he organised any ducks, but she didn't have time to start that debate again.

"I don't care about politics," she said. "You should know this, Jeremy. You've known me long enough."

"Well things change, Sarah. I certainly have, I thought you might as well."

"Jeremy, enough of this!" Sarah hissed a bit louder. Nearby diner patrons stared at her so Sarah softened her voice again. "You call me up out of a blue, offering me payment to research a possible alien invasion in America. I come, as a favour for you, to help you improve your standing in your new job. You send me off to a town in the middle of New Mexico. I find out Zygons took over the town, and only Zygons remain. I get evidence of this, barely escaping with my life, and send it to you. Please just tell me what you did with this information, and then I can go home and stop worrying that there is a Zygon over every corner trying to silence me."

"Ah yes, well…" Jeremy said, sheepishly. "I never did say what my new job was, did I?"

"You said top secret. Once you sent me to the exact town where an alien infiltration had occurred I guessed it was an intelligence agency. Which one? I need to know the FBI or CIA or someone is going to Truth or Consequences right away."

"Well, you know how it is with Zygons, don't you Sarah? You never know who you can trust. There could have been Zygons in the FBI and CIA as far as I knew. So I sent it to my boss, I knew I could trust him above anyone else."

Sarah was stunned by what Jeremy was saying and more importantly, what he was coy about. "Jeremy, please tell me the highly dangerous footage I made of Zygons chasing me out of my town are going to some form of police or defence services."

"Police?" Jeremy laughed. "This is America! Who needs the police when every third person has a gun? That's what my boss said and I can see his point. He understands this country better than I do after all."

"Who is your boss, Jeremy? Tell me directly, who are you working for, or I won't be responsible for what I do next."

Jeremy stuck his thumb out behind him to the TV screen, still showing the same orange faced political candidate. "It's him. The next President. Or the man who will be the next President thanks to your fine work."

Jeremy continued to talk about how impressed and amazed he was about his boss, how he had been hired as a campaign researcher, plucked from the scrapheap of UK politics to potentially work at the White House, but all his words faded into the background as Sarah, stunned, listened as an orange man on a stage, standing next to his beautiful wife, in front of thousands showed the pictures and recordings she had risked her life to access from Truth or Consequences while shouting out political slogans.

"Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, has been overrun with alien criminals, who will not stop until the entire country follows suit," the Candidate preached to the audience. "When the Zygons sent their aliens here, they aren't sending their best people. They're terrorists, murderers, rapists. Some may be good people, I don't know. This is a problem that the President, and all my opponents either knew about and lied to you about, or were completely ignorant of. I am the only person honest enough to tell you about this problem, and smart enough to stop it."

Sarah paused in her testimony, as her memory brought back those same feelings she had felt in the café. The feeling of regret, of fear, and of impending doom.

"Do you really expect us to believe that?" Flast hissed.

"It's what happened," Sarah answered. "You will believe what you want."

"You gathered information on our people, and sent it to a friend with no idea what purpose it was for," Flast said, with surprise.

"I didn't think Jeremy would ever be hired by a politician, after his career. Jeremy wasn't smart, but he was experienced. Between connections he made in politics, in photo journalism, and knowing a bit about aliens through his time working with me, I could see him falling into a position in some sort of intelligence agency. When he suggested I visit Truth or Consequences, I thought I was doing him a favour of dismissing a bad rumour before he embarrasses himself again."

"Your attempt to avoid embarrassment lead to over one hundred Zygons being slaughtered," Venke hissed at Sarah, silencing her. She had not heard the number before.

"They came from all over neighbouring towns, armed to the teeth," Flast explained. "Our people there had seen so much change. They didn't want to leave their homes just as things were settling. But they weren't prepared for a militia attack. Is that what you wanted? Mindless slaughter?"

"No!" Sarah shouted.

"But you wanted the security services to be involved?" Flast asked. "What do you think they would have done differently?"

"They would have tried to detain you, assess the risk for the human race, not just kill you mindlessly," Sarah explained. "See this from the perspective of a human who has been hurt by your kind before. I see aliens I know to have tried to invade Earth entirely occupying an American town, and having apparently wiped out the native population. What would you suggest I have done?"

"Ah," Kate interrupted, "You could have contacted me."

Sarah turned to her, "Maybe I should have. But I didn't have time to think about who to contact. I had a person who wanted this information and I thought it was safe. And then expressed regret as soon as I realised I was mistaken."

"That's true," Kate advised the Zygons. "I met Sarah in her hotel room after the candidate gave his press conference."

Sarah's eyes sprung over as she recalled the style of that meeting. The bag placed over her head, the forced transportation to an undisclosed locations seemed to out of the realms of normality for a meeting.

"She did take a bit of convincing about the necessity of Zygon protection for peace," Kate explained, "Which is understandable considering her past experience of Loch Ness, but she promised even when I told her not to, that she would try to rectify this."

Flast looked at Sarah, "And how did you plan to rectify the deaths of my people?"

"I thought, you were at risk by being public, even outside of Truth or Consequences. But the candidate was only talking about himself, not about myself or anyone else involved in the footage, and using paranoia to win an election. I thought if I could discredit his declarations about the Zygons, you could return to being private again. And to start discrediting his declarations, I needed to know how he found out about Zygons in the first place," Sarah explained. "And Jeremy owed me a favour, a huge favour, after this."


	3. Chapter 3

_12 months ago_

"Sir, this is Sarah Jane Smith," Jeremy announced as he walked Sarah into the apartment office. In the background the skyline of Manhattan seemed to shine behind this man, the man who would be President. Though, Sarah thought, Pharaoh may be more appropriate considering the emphasis on gold she could see in the office décor.

"So you're the little lady who's won me this election?" The candidate asked, moving from behind his desk to shake Sarah's arm vigorously. "Did you see the poll numbers? I was always gonna win it, I knew I always was. But now, after that Zygon stuff the public can't get enough of me. I think my opponent is going to just resign any minute now, forget even having the election. What do you think?"

It took Sarah a few seconds to realise a question had been asked, still distracted as she was with the shine of the room. Shaking herself back into attention she stated "I don't really follow politics. I'm not at all sure."

"You better start, dear. I'll need you to be on your game when you become my official press secretary," the candidate released her hand and sat back down at the desk. "Sit down, we'll start negotiating about your pay."

Sarah sat, still trying to catch up on where this conversation had lead. "You want me to be your what?" She asked, confused.

"Press secretary. You know, the one who talks to those media chumps and keeps them entertained so I can get some work done. You'd be perfect for the role."

"Based on what?"

"Well, you look great for your age. No kids, so you can be focused. And you've being doing this journalism stuff for years. Time to take a break and earn some decent pay, right?"

Sarah was completely bewildered, unsure which point to answer to first.

"Maybe she needs some time to think it over first, sir," Jeremy added, still standing at the door. "It is a big offer to make out of the blue like that, sir."

"Just imagine, you two working together. They'd call it the British invasion. What a laugh!" The candidate laughed at his own joke.

"Actually," Sarah said slowly, eager to change the topic, "I was wondering if I could ask for a favour rather than just a job."

"Sure, whatever you want," the candidate answered, leaning back in his chair.

"I'd like to write a profile of you and your family for the Metropolitan."

The candidate grew stern. His brow clenched as he answered, "Anything but that. I don't do interviews for anyone, do you hear me?"

"Oh, okay," Sarah started then heard sniggering from behind her. She turned and saw Jeremy trying to hide a laugh. As she did, the candidate burst out laughing from behind his desk.

"I'm just kidding! I love free press. Sure, what do you want to know? Most of its been covered elsewhere anyway. Self-made businessman, born from a wealthy father, own half the city here, never had a bankruptcy. Hell, Jeremy could just give you my online profile and you could just add your name to it if you want to save time."

"Absolutely!" Jeremy added gleefully. "I'm sure you could only improve on it, Sarah."

"Maybe I could use that for background research if you like," Sarah stated. "But the people in the UK have already good awareness of you, and have seen you on TV, and your interviews already. The main reason you are getting more focus in the press over there than any other presidential candidate is because you spoke publically about a Zygon infiltration."

"Naturally. I went into this role declaring I would be totally transparent about the workings of government. The first president who will tell it like it is."

"How did you know?" Sarah added abruptly, wanting to waste no more time when she knew exactly what she had to find out.

"What do you mean? I didn't know anything about this, you found out the evidence."

"The one town, in one state, to have been taken over by Zygons. A remote town no one has ever heard of. And Jeremy sent me exactly there. That's too much of a coincidence, sir," Sarah explained, then repeated, "How do you know?"

The candidate shrugged his shoulders and began to get up from his chair. "Look, sweetie, I don't mean to tell you how to do your job or anything, but this is not what the public wants. There's some stuff I have to keep secret, gotta have some classified intel after all. And even if I did say anything, you just be boring your people. They want me, not Zygons."

Sarah was set back, but this just told her there was something worth keeping classified here. She knew Jeremy didn't know about Zygon locations, and she doubted this man had figured it out on his own. Someone knew and there would be a pathway to explore.

"Very well. I still need to get a story though. The Zygon story was quickly classified as much as possible by every security service under the sun. And if I can't get any more detail from you on that, perhaps I could make an exciting article out of getting to know you through the people who know you."

The candidate looked upwards as he thought this over. "A bunch of people who know me, picked by me, saying how much they like me," he said, then smiled broadly as he again clasped Sarah's hand excitedly. "I love it! Let me know who you want to meet first and I'll have them ready first thing tomorrow."

"Any order is fine," Sarah said, pulling her hand back slightly. "But I suppose the person who should know you best is your wife."

Whereas the last interview had been in a room designed for business, albeit very ornate business, this interview was set in a room designed for casual living, albeit very glamorous casual living. Angels in a renaissance style were painted on the ceiling and walls. The woman sitting opposite Sarah seemed to fit the style perfectly. A statuesque brunette beauty, dressed stylishly in a bright white jacket and pantsuit combo rose as Sarah Jane entered and clasped the journalist by the shoulders, kissing her on each cheek.

"Welcome to my little rooms," the woman stated in a thick Slavic accent, gesturing for Sarah to sit at the seat opposite her. "I trust your journey to America has been enjoyable."

"Well," Sarah responded slowly as she sat down, unsure if she wanted to relive the details of fleeing from a Zygon run rural town. "It has been an interesting time, shall we say."

"And shall it remain so! My husband advised me of your article – the man of power as seen through the eyes of those who love him. Very interesting indeed."

"My readers and I certainly hope so," Sarah said, and activated her phone to record the conversation. "You don't mind if I record our meeting, Mrs…."

"Mariya is fine, and yes you may. It is my husband who wants the formality of titles and surnames. I did not start with wealth as he did, and feel much more comfortable talking on friendly terms with journalist."

"Thank you Mariya. And please feel free to call me Sarah. I'd be interested in hearing more of your journey to meeting your husband," Sarah stated.

Mariya's eyes looked upwards as she recalled the time. "I was hired for a modelling job- I was working as a model at the time – for a new hotel my husband had bought. He took an interest in me, invited me out for dinner, and one thing lead to another, and now he's running for President," Mariya then laughed at the story. "The way life changes! I could not even imagined half of it not even five years ago."

"What was your dream when you were growing up?"

"Certainly not this," Mariya insisted. "This is his life, and I follow him, though I do miss the more private life I had growing up in my old country."

"In Slovakia, is that right?" Sarah asked.

"Yes, I stayed there until I finished my studies."

"Yes, I read your online biography. You completed a Degree in Architecture at the University of Slovakia, it said. Do you still have that interest?"

Mariya shook her head, "That life was a long time ago. I may not be the public figure my husband was but I am not that student anymore either."

"I suppose that's why there are the mistakes in the biography," Sarah responded, pausing to let the meaning of her statement reach Mariya before clarifying, "Your University doesn't exist. There is no University of Slovakia. But I'm sure it was just a simple mistake."

"Of course," Mariya laughed, slightly nervously. "I told them I studied in a University in Slovakia, but they must have misheard."

"Jeremy was notable for making mistakes even when we worked together," Sarah responded. "If you want I can give him the correct name and he can fix it."

Mariya's smile began to drop. "No it is fine. I will tell him myself."

"And it's long ago so you might not recall it. Your biography stated after studying you worked for a modelling agency which organised for you travel to America for work."

"Yes, my big break. My first real opportunity."

"How long ago was that?"

"At least twenty years."

"Hmm," Sarah muttered, as she prepared the next question. "I had difficulty finding your old work though. Anything older than around three or four years ago is very rare."

"You know how it is Sarah, sometimes the work is thin, and the work you get is not noticeable."

"Oh I found a few things that were ten or five years ago," Sarah corrected her. "They were rare, but if you searched hard enough you could find them."

"Well, there you go. I don't know where you are taking this conversation though."

"They were faked," Sarah firmly stated. "The pictures had been edited using recent software which didn't exist back then. I found the original advertisements in old magazines, but you aren't in any of them."

Mariya began to feel flustered, "I thought we were supposed to be talking about my husband."

"Yes, exactly, your husband. I've been re-watching a lot of his speeches recently, and watching your reaction. Particularly when he first mentioned Zygons and Truth or Consequences. You seemed to look shocked and unsure of yourself when he mentioned this town, more than anyone else around him. Why is that?"

"It was discussion about aliens I had never heard before, in a town I had never heard of. And if you excuse me I think our conversation can conclude now," Mariya stated, getting up to leave.

Sarah stood up with her to continue the questions "But you did hear of it! The earliest data record I could find of you was made in New Mexico. Your first driver's license had your address as being in Truth or Consequences."

Mariya moved to the back room and shut the door to separate herself from Sarah. "I'll be calling security now. I would suggest you leave immediately. I do not want to continue this conversation any further."

Sarah stood at the door, waiting for the security to come. "I just want to get your side of the story. How your husband found out about Zygons, and Truth or Consequences? Who are you exactly Mariya?"

Later that night Sarah Jane was back at her hotel room. Mariya had stated nothing further and she had politely left as soon as security arrived. She was now sitting on her bed, with a half-eaten bagel sitting beside her laptop, finishing her article and sending it to her press contacts. She had avoided sending it to the Metropolitan, this story needed an immediate response. Knowing a few people at Reuters, she expected that some of the major news agencies would be publishing within an hour. And then it would be over for the candidate, and her mistake would be resolved.

Her mobile phone rang, and Sarah quickly picked it up.

"Sarah, it's Jeremy," her former colleague said to her. "We are very disappointed in you. Switch on the news channels right now."

The phone clicked as Jeremy hung up. Sarah was not surprised to lose the friendship, but she hoped Jeremy would avoid most of the fall out and land on his feet again. He had made worst decisions in his life after all.

She switched on the television, and saw the candidate and his wife standing with their private security guards on the familiar campaign podium, with a crowd of thousands in attendance.

"Some of my opponents," the candidate began, pausing to allow the audience to boo in solidarity with him, before lightly correcting them, "Now, now. Settle down. We're meant to look polite and reasonable here, right? Anyway, some of my opponents have questioned the threat of the Zygons, because they realise that by talking about it, I'm showing I'm the only person willing to fix the problem!"

The crowd cheered at this statement. Even his own wife applauded lightly.

As the noise went down, the candidate continued, "They call our footage faked. I get a top class journalist like Sarah Jane Smith over to get this footage and they call her a fake, a phony! Well, I say they're the phonies, and the American people are tired of being told lies by them all!"

Again the audience cheered, banner were waved. Sarah felt unsettled. She knew Jeremy wanted her to watch this speech for a reason. She began to notice how uncomfortable Mariya was looking on the stage. She was shifting from one leg to the other, eyes darting around, with one hand constantly placed on the back of the candidate, either for stability or her own sense of security.

"After today, after tonight they won't be able to lie about this anymore. They won't be able to dismiss the existence of Zygons, and instead will start listening to me about what to do next. Tonight everything changes."

The candidate stopped in his speech and turned to his wife. He nodded to her. She nodded back. He smiled and kissed her on the cheek, then grasped her hand tightly. Then, in front of the world's media Mariya closed her eyes, and her body began to morph into an orange skinned, suckered monster.

The crowd reacted with shocks inhalations, screams but mostly there was silence. The candidate pulled his arm back, out of Mariya's grip and turned back to the podium. He looked the calmest person in the room there, even the normally perfectly still security guards looked shocked. But the candidate was not reacting with any sense of shock or fear. He was even smiling.

"Now you see how deep the infection of Zygons has gotten!" He shouted to the audience, and extended his arm to point at his wife without turning his head away from the audience at all. "My own wife was one of them, and I didn't even realise until we were married for years. That is the reason I decided to run for president, because I knew the problem existed and knew how easily deceived even the best of us could be by these monsters!"

Mariya looked shocked, and began to plead, "No, no, you promised…you promised that you wouldn't," trying to get closer to her husband.

"Security!" The candidate shouted, and two of his security guards intercepted Mariya, taking her by either arm and beginning to drag her off the stage.

"No, wait!" The candidate shouted. "I want her to hear this."

The security guards stopped at the edge of the stage with Mariya staring back at her husband.

"On the first day I become President, I promise to set up a private investigation to find all these Zygons wherever they hide, and permanently detain them. To do anything less risks the future of our children, and I will not let that happen!"

The audience cheered, applauded, and began a chant of "Lock them up!" continuously. Mariya began to howl, her legs went limp as she realised the depth of the betrayal. The candidate nodded, and the security guards dragged her off the stage. The candidate stayed at the stage a little longer, waving to the public, before exiting himself.

Sarah switched off the television, feeling stunned. She thought she had the candidate. She thought she had the story that would end his career. But instead, he had pre-empted her story, and somehow used it to strengthen his political ambitions. The businessman who stumbled into politics, had now become the crusader reacting to a threat he had devoted his time to. A man so devoted to the defence of his country he would throw his own wife under the bus.

Her phone rang again, interrupting her flow of thoughts. An unknown number this time. Sarah picked up the phone and answered it.

"Did you like the press conference?" a voice sneered at the other end of the line. She recognised the voice instantly, she had heard it only a minute ago.

"Hello Mr. Candidate," Sarah responded.

"Mr. President soon enough. I would have won anyway, but you forcing my hand really made sure it was going to be a landslide," He answered. "Not that you should think that makes me grateful."

"I wouldn't have imagined it. Mariya seemed surprised by your speech. What did you say to convince her to change?"

"I said that I was going to show her how Zygons can be peaceful, how we can work together. Humanise the monsters, a complete change of angle, that sort of thing," the candidate explained, with a laugh. "Dumb chick would swallow anything I said, without question. Just like she always did. She believed me when I said I would not use the Zygons as a political target. She believed me when I said I would only go after the bad Zygons who killed at Truth or Consequences. She'd probably believe me if I told her she'd only be detained until the end of the election if she helps me."

"So she trusted you with everything, and you just betrayed her?" Sarah asked.

"Don't you push this on me! You made the threat against my political career, you forced me to make her the scape goat. I was perfectly happy using her as a nice trophy wife, good intel on Zygons and all that, but you made that impossible," the candidate shouted through the speaker. "Everything that has happened or will happen is entirely your responsibility from now on, you understand that? Not me, entirely down to you."

"Everything that will happen?" Sarah repeated, curious.

"I'm a man where if you hit one of mine, I'll kill one of yours. Don't ever forget that. You took my wife away from me, not caring how that makes you look. I won't forget this, and when I become President I'll make sure you don't forget it either."

The phone call abruptly ended. Sarah dropped the phone, stunned.


	4. Chapter 4

"My article was published, but overlooked, except by the candidate calling me fake on twitter. I continued to research, trying to get something that would stop him, publishing articles here and there. But nothing stuck. Three months later he was elected President in an absolute landslide," Sarah explained to the Zygon council. "People were terrified and he offered them his own branded salvation."

"And then what did you do?" Flast asked Sarah Jane.

"I got on the next plane and came straight home," Sarah stated bluntly.

"And left the Zygons to suffer because of your mistakes?" Xallon asked her.

"Not just Zygons," Kate explained. "When you start telling the world there are alien invaders who can be disguised as anyone they know, it creates a good opportunity for a less ethical politician in power to rid himself of his opponents. And the current President we can definitely agree has won no awards for ethics."

"So the detention camps-" Flast began to ask.

"Are filled with people UNIT has not been able to identify as Zygons. And while we are busy trying to evacuate as many Zygons as we can to Canada and Mexico, we would know if that many Zygons had ended up in Washington. And I think that Congress knows this now. He has unregulated power because everyone knows if they speak up, video will be leaked of that person turning into a Zygon."

"And no one will question this footage for fear that the next footage may be of them. Even Jeremy, his own press secretary, was accused of being a Zygon and detained back in March," Sarah added, then asked the Zygons "Do you have any idea how he would be able to manufacture this footage?"

"His wife, we suspect," Flast stated. "Zygons only need a strong memory print to be able to replicate a person. His wife would have met most of the powerful men and women in Washington, and to do a simple physical replication, without needing to do any sound or behaviour change, that would be sufficient."

"He's untouchable. You created a dictator, Sarah-Jane, and then left your creation to cause disaster without a care," Xallon shouted at Sarah, pointing at her accusingly.

"And what would you suppose I should have done? Like you said, he was untouchable. He had the love of the public, the media was terrified to question him. You are complaining about the detention camps, but the fear my contacts in America have been describing is not these. Everyone is scared they will be named as a threat before being detained, so the President can encourage his mob of supporters. Everyone remembers what was done to Truth or Consequences, and not one of his supporters regrets it," Sarah responded.

"So you were scared of him," Xallon mocked her.

"Absolutely!" Sarah admitted.

"You who have faced Daleks, Cybermen, the greatest Zygon invasion force-"

"None of whom knew or who cared who I was," Sarah explained, interrupting Xallon. "You know why the Doctor defeats alien invasions? How I stop alien invasions? It is because the large alien invasion forces are focused on military structures, resource acquisition, and weaponry, they don't notice or care about who I or the Doctor are. We are just unarmed bystanders, to be killed if need be, but not to prepare against. This is how I survived so long, and defended the Earth so well. But this is different. This is the President of the United States of America, commander of the greatest armed forces on Earth, who wishes to seek vengeance against me using all that power, and with no one to tell him no. Who here wouldn't be scared?"

Sarah looked around the room. No one dared meet her eye lines. They knew the wrath of the President had no limits. Not one of them would want to be directly targeted by him.

"I had some protection in the UK. His security goons couldn't just walk to my front door openly. There were no warrants out against me, and without a crime nothing would be done," Sarah continued to explain. "He tried to get met to react to him. Jeremy would have willingly walked into fire for this man, and the President had him detained as a Zygon, because he is someone I knew. He insulted me on twitter constantly, and encouraged his supporters to do the same. Every article I released received demands I debate him on American soil. I avoided social media, and just hoped he would get bored and move on."

"And we all know how well that went," Kate added, with a hint of derision. She didn't need to say anymore. Everyone knew what occurred three months ago. They all could recall the headlines.

_Electronic Magnetic Pulse leads to blackout in London_

_The silent killer: How the weaponised EMP caused more deaths in hospital than a terror attack_

"_The act of Zygon insurgents," declared President of United States. Promises to send delegation to assist._

Sarah knew she would regret the next question, but her curiosity was too strong. "I'm sorry Flast, but I need to know. Is it possible that it actually was a Zygon responsible?"

Flast sneered at Sarah, "Even now, after all you did you seek an enmity with my people."

"I just want to know for sure," Sarah defended herself.

"I will not pretend the Zygons have always loved peace, but the attack caused nothing but alarm. We gain nothing by a terrified populace."

"And besides which-" Vunde started, but as Flast held up his hand, he went silent.

"What?" Sarah asked, curious. "What was he about to say?"

"Ahem," Kate interrupted. "This isn't about security, Sarah, but personal harm. When the peace was made between humans and Zygons, services needed to change to take into account the new population. While they can look like us, Zygons do not have the same physiology as us. And when they get sick, they need their own hospital wards, and own doctors to treat them, while also protecting the confidential nature of the Human-Zygon peace agreement."

"And one of the largest Zygon wards was around fifty metres from the centre of the EMP," Flast explained. "Zygons tend to avoid seeking medical assistance for fear of being uncovered, so those who were in hospital were mostly critical cases. I'm sure you're aware of what happens when a ward of critical patients lose access to all life support, breathing apparatus and all power, without us needing to go into more details."

Sarah Jane, looked down letting the effects of the last three months sink in. She knew the Zygons were telling the truth. She had suspected the EMP was an attack from the President but a part of her hoped that after all this, she would find something simpler to blame. The Zygons were visibly monstrous, she had defended Earth from them previously. It was comforting to imagine that the EMP attack was just another generalised Zygon attack, especially when the alternative was so personal.

"So we think the source of the EMP was – " Vunde asked, breaking the silence.

"We think it most likely the President authorised the attack," Kate explained. "The weaponry meets the capability of the US government, and their response to the attack was quick and precise while most of the world was still taking time to register what had happened."

Sarah had to stop to think this thought over in here head. The President of the United States had launched an attack on his closest ally, to revenge himself against her.

"And you let him come?" Flast hissed. "You saw the threat as coming from America and you invited him here to cause the same problems, the same threats to the Zygon race as he did in his own country?"

"It's not as simple as that. He more or less invited himself in such a way that the government could not refuse his offer," Kate responded. "You need to remember, the relationship with the US and the UK is being repaired, but is not as strong as it once was. The last time a President visited our country, Harold Saxon, our Prime Minister killed him. The current President was quick to remind us of this. He arrived in the UK, with his own small regiment of soldiers, to take control of the Zygonthreat as well as to protect himself because, and I quote, 'I don't want to end up like Winters'"

"And the public here is just as impressed with his anti-Zygon attack plan as in his home country. He is seen as solving a problem that our governments will not talk about," Kate added. "So when he began to organise his own private investigations into his own list of persons of interest, anyone who could stop him had been reminded in no uncertain terms, that if they stood in the President's way, he would declare to the public that his self declared expertise on Zygon affairs had been rejected, and accuse the government of trying to get rid of him like Winter."

"Expertise," Xallon snorted derisively. "You humans are most easily deceived."

"Maybe," Kate accepted, "But there was a real concern that if the President declared martial law under his rule, or that our government was infested with Zygons and needed to all be detained, the local public would choose the safety he presents over their own independence from America. At least by going along with his minor demands, there was a chance to wait for him to tire out and go home eventually."

"And so the government agreed to throw me under the bus," Sarah said, partially to herself. "Better for him to be able to raid my house, declare me an enemy in press conferences, make false rumours about me, and the country stays independent afterwards."

"And you think you still deserve the protection of this government?" Xollande asked, bitterly. "You expect the Government to protect you from the monster you created when you allowed my people to be herded and hunted in two countries so far?"

Sarah sighed. She understood Xollande's anger, and had felt it towards herself for many years now. But she was beginning to tire of being seen as completely responsible for all the actions of an adult man.

"In fact, I don't think we need to hear anymore," Xollande said to his Zygon companions. "She has been given her time to explain her actions. It does not exonerate her, in fact it shows how she repeatedly harmed the safety of our people, and even now cares more about her own safety, than the safety of thousands of Zygons. Flast, if you will allow me-"

Xollande began to hold up his arm to strike at Sarah, but Flast grasped it by the wrist. "We are not that way anymore. We will seek a punishment but one we all agree upon."

Sarah rolled her eyes at this. "Really? This is what this whole discussion had led to? Discussing whether to zap me, or lock me up, while the person who is still trying to hunt you continues on unchanged."

"Once he has your head things can return to normal," Xollande suggested.

"The most important thing for the President is to be popular. And this campaign to detect Zygons has made him more popular than any other leader. People are terrified and turning to him for guidance," Sarah explained. "Do you think he will stop this, even if I were dead?"

The Zygons muttered to each other, thinking this over. But Sarah didn't intend to let them delay the necessary conversations they needed to have any further. Time was short.

"Nothing will change, no matter how much you punish me. Kill me if you want, but beside of a quick thrill of retribution, you will still be hunted, and attacked, just like I have been by this President," Sarah stated. "I never came here for an interrogation, but to ask for help. Neither of us can survive this man's plans by our own."

Xollande bared his teeth in anger at Sarah Jane, but Flast again silenced him with a raised hand. "We will need time to consider-" She said before Sarah cut her off.

"We don't have it!" Sarah shouted. "I've been tracked since the week after the President arrived. I've had my movements recorded, my house raided frequently. And I have been doing nothing untoward, nothing suspicious. But still they track me, hoping I will slip up and confess to something."

Flast was stunned as she realised what Sarah was saying, "They tracked you here?"

"They were waiting for a smoking gun to connect me to a Zygon. Well, this is it. Sarah Jane Smith meeting with Zygon leaders in person," Sarah said, and before the Zygons had time to answer she put up a hand ot silence them. In the distance they could hear a helicopter landing and the sound of combat boots hitting grass and dirt. Running on pavement, a knock on the door, followed by a loud sound of impactagainst the old doors at the castle entrance.

Sarah looked directly into Flast's eyes. "They're already here."


	5. Chapter 5

The President of the United States was sitting at his desk in the mobile military headquarters. He had a big smile on his face, because today was turning into a very good day. All these months he had hoped for revenge, becoming frustrated, short tempered, and volatile about the delays to his satisfaction. But now, he realised the delayed treat tastes twice as sweet. He wouldn't have enjoyed the revenge if it were immediate.

But now, seeing Sarah Jane Smith in handcuffs, being pushed forward by his two personal security guards, dressed in their khaki uniforms and matching caps with his own personal insignia, he knew what true delight was. He left the desk to get a closer look at his new prisoner. Sarah looked downwards, trying to break his glance, but the President was not going to let himself be ignored and moved close to her.

He lowered his head slightly, and said slowly, "Little Sarah," each word exhaled so she could physically feel the words brushing against her cheek. The President knew how to be noticed, how to have a woman feel completely controlled by another, and intended to use this knowledge on Sarah. "How nice to see you again."

Sarah said nothing, continuing to look downward.

"Nothing to say? No begging, no pleading? You'd be surprised how often I will forgive a person when they beg."

Still she ignored him. The President began to get angry. He was the most powerful man in the world and he would not be ignored by some spinster journalist. He wanted her on her knees, pleading for her life, and her rudeness was getting in the way of his goals. He grabbed Sarah by the chin, forcing her to look at him.

"I don't know if you realise it Sarah, but making me happy is the difference between the detention camps and being shot while attempting to escape. And it would make me happy if you start to talk."

The President looked into Sarah's eyes. He expected to see fear. He longed to see fear. But her eyes were bright. She was smiling at him, like she knew something he didn't.

"Mr President," she said, calmly and slowly as her jaw pushed against the President's hand, "I just have one thing to ask you."

He released her jaw and stepped back. She was being compliant, if smug, so she could be allowed her question.

"Ask your question."

"Did you ever try to have a relationship with your Zygon wife without her pretending to be someone else? Ever just let her show her orange skinned suction cup covered body the way nature made her?"

The President snarled and slapped Sarah hard across her cheek, knocking her to the ground.

"Rude bitch!" he shouted at her. Sarah spat out a little blood as she pushed herself up with her shackled hands.

"Get her standing!" the President told his guards. The two men gave a brief salute and then pulled Sarah back up to a standing position. Still Sarah smiled at him. "I don't know what you think you've got to smile about, idiot. You just signed your death warrant. Ain't no way you will leave her alive anymore."

Sarah began to laugh at the sound of that. "It's interesting," she said, "All this time I thought you were some master manipulator, moving all the chess pieces around without anyone being able to stop you. But you're not. You've just been lucky. Lucky to be able to play into paranoia, lucky to be born wealthy, and lucky to find an easy way to defame your opponents."

"I am smart! And lucky. Definitely smarter and luckier than you. And richer."

"You want to know why I am smiling, Mr. President? Because when you leave this room you will be none of those things," Sarah explained, her smile changing to an expression of determination. "You wanted my reaction so badly, you chased me all the way here from America just to get revenge. That was your first mistake"

The President lent his head back and laughed. "In case you didn't notice, Sarah, I was welcomed. The one man who isn't afraid to talk openly about the Zygon threat. The one man who can save England, make it great again. The people love me."

"No doubt. But the government isn't welcoming your presence."

"I never care about what Governments want. The role of any Government is to shut up and get out of my way. And with a significant enough push even the mightiest Government gets out of my way," the President scoffed.

"Is that what the EMP was? A gentle push?"

"Just damaging enough to make the people scared, but not damaging enough that my staff would risk their careers to stop me," the President explained. "And totally untraceable. One little strike, and little black out, and soon enough I get to be King!"

Sarah smiled at the thought of the man in front of her in regal fittings. "You gain a kingdom, but lose a country then?"

The President's gaze clenched as he perceived the threat. "I don't lose," he said. "I'm not a loser."

"But you aren't well liked by those in power, Mr. President. Either by your country or by ours. You are feared, you are submitted to, but no one likes you," Sarah explained. "So right now the governments are terrified of you in England, but your former colleagues in America are taking advantage of your distraction to see what they can find to reduce your power over them."

The President's face formed into a snarl, as he spat "There's nothing! You've got nothing!"

Sarah ignored him, "You see, while you were in America, you were untouchable. Anyone who spoke out against you was a Zygon spy, to be detained and never seen again. I knew I couldn't beat you, so I didn't try. I came home, and you followed to a country where you couldn't just declare anyone you oppose a Zygon, and couldn't just expect everyone to be constantly in fear of you."

"I just haven't tried yet. I thought about it. I thought how much more enjoyable it would be to destroy the country, destroy everything you loved before killing you. But when I got the chance to declare you a Zygon agent, I couldn't resist the opportunity."

"And that was your second mistake," Sarah answered. "You were always too focused on me."

"You went after me, I went after you," the President answered. "You didn't have to mention my wife, embarrassing me like that. You made yourself a target, not me."

"But who am I, Mr. President?" Sarah asked. "I'm not a political rival. I'm not a business you want to buy out. I'm a journalist who doesn't really care about politics."

"Too late for that now. You didn't want to be involved in my life, you shouldn't have written about my wife."

"No, you're missing the point," Sarah said, closing her eyes exasperated. "I'm not a political journalist or a political rival, but you only fixated on me. So what do you think your actual political rivals and political journalists are doing while you are completely distracted with me and in another country?"

The President's face dropped as Sarah's words began to sink in.

"When was the last time you heard from your Vice-President?" Sarah asked, knowing the right targets to hit. "You may not have been noticing what is happening in your home country, but I have been. Reading, watching, finding out what I can."

"But you're not a political journalist! Just some local paper hack!"

"So I collected information for the people who were, and asked them to wait until they knew you would be too distracted to notice" Sarah explained and gestured with the manacled hands to the television screen to the side of the President. "Go, have a look at your favourite news channel."

The President grabbed his remote and slammed his thumb on the power button. He was going to show her. It didn't matter where he was, he was in power everywhere. He had trained all the lackeys well. They would still be terrified of him wherever he was.

Then he saw the reports.

_Are Zygons real? Leaked document suggests the President framed former political rivals to silence dissent._

_Vice-President denies reports that President ordered EMP strike on our closest allies._

_Undisclosed White House insider reports "He wanted to use Nukes. Everyone looked to find someone who would be willing to tell him no."_

"They found you weren't trying to overpower them, and with a slight push of some evidence, they decided to get in your way," Sarah mocked.

The President threw the remote control at the TV. If he hoped for a resounding smash, he was disappointed as the controller just bounced off the TV onto the floor. He nodded to a security guard who gave a quick salute and then switched the television off manually.

"This is nothing," the President muttered, mainly to himself as he sat back down at his desk. "Nothing will stick, it never does. I'll get back home, and all those documents will be ignored as fake news."

"Mr, President," Sarah said softly, leaning over the desk, "You're never returning home. You'll die in this country."

"And what makes you think that?" The President sneered. "You've got no smoking gun so far. These mistakes you think will bring me down will barely be noticed in my expenditures. You've spent all this time planning your last hurrah, and all it gets you is all kinds of dead."

"True, Mr. President. It isn't enough so far, which is why I only leaked it when I knew we were going to have this meeting. I needed you to make one more mistake to doom yourself. And you did not disappoint."

"And the last mistake I made?" The President asked, leaning back in his chair.

"Come on, Mr. President. You're not that dumb," Sarah answered coyly. "Think it over. You sent your own private soldiers to fetch me from a Zygon base. A base you knew had plenty of shape shifters who could turn into anyone they could find a memory for. Have you figured it out yet?"

Something clicked in the President's head. He stood up and pointed to the guards. "Shoot her! She's not the real Sarah Jane Smith. She's a Zygon!"

"Me?" Sarah said with a knowing smirk. "No, not me. It would have been too obvious. You were so focused on me, you would have noticed if my clothes blended into my skin, or I didn't recall the exact details of our last meeting."

"I don't care!" The President shouted, feeling threatened but not sure why. He guards were not moving. "Shoot her!" he yelled again.

"Again, so focused on me. Here I am, my arms locked up. I am no threat to you, but still you focus entirely on my presence," Sarah said, offering her arms to one guard who quickly unlocked them.

"What is going on? Why are you letting her go?" The President asked then turned to the other guard. "Shoot them both!"

Sarah massaged her wrists as she continued. "Knowing you were obsessed made things a lot clearer. I had to come to see you, not anyone else. I couldn't bring any recording devices, because I'm sure you would scan me. But when was the last time you had a good look at your security, Mr. President? I bet you don't even know their names. So shall we ask them to introduce themselves?"

The President realised what she meant, and backed away from the trio slowly, blood draining from his face. Now she had mentioned it, he could see it. He could see how the uniforms did not appear to completely separate from the skin, but instead blended together.

Because the uniform wasn't real. The skin wasn't real. The guards weren't real. Any power the President felt was lost entirely as he saw two armed guards being to glow and transform into orange skinned, barnacled aliens, with only their caps of the uniform remaining.

Together the two muscular Zygons snarled at the snivelling President.

"I am Flast," hissed one Zygon, and gestured to his partner. "This is Xallon. As representatives of the Zygon Council, we find you guilty of crimes against the Zygon race."

The Zygons handed both caps to Sarah, and slowly walked towards the President.

"The caps were mini cameras, broadcasting your testimony to the outside world," Sarah explained, examining the caps she had been handed. "My gift from UNIT. My friends here switched on the camera and off again with their salutes. They wanted to get just enough footage of you defaming yourself, while trying to keep the existence of Zygons a secret."

The Zygons flipped over the table, throwing it against the wall. The President had no cover between himself and the two monsters, and began to crouch down against the back wall.

"Please….please don't kill me," he pleaded to the Zygons. "I'll give you money! Lots of money!"

"I doubt you have much left, Mr. President," Sarah said from behind the Zygons. "Even if you did, I doubt the UK. Government would let you access it after what you've just admitted doing to the United Kingdom on live video broadcast."

"So many of our elderly died because of that attack!" Flast hissed. "Our children trampled as they fled the towns you encouraged your supporters to attack. Your wife, she loved you, and you locked her up as a political plaything. You think any money can return them, or return the months we spent terrified?"

Flast raised his arm over the snivelling President, preparing to end his life. The President closed his eyes, and winced, preparing for the final blow.

But instead of an electric shock, the President instead heard Sarah Jane called out "Stop! Let him live!"

He opened his eyes to see Sarah Jane joining the Zygons looking down at him.

"He is the terrorist here! He is the killer. We want vengeance. We want his life!" Flast hissed to Sarah.

"And I understand that, Flast. Over the last twelve months I thought the same plan many times over," Sarah explained, taking Flast's arm and gentle directed it away from the President's scalp. "But it would be too quick. How much more satisfying to see a man who defines himself by winning, by being rich and powerful having no power, no money, and completely losing to a woman, and two aliens. That will kill his soul. He'll still live, but he'll be less than nothing. Even if he is allowed to return to the United States, enough time will pass for all his allies to reject him, and any opportunity for wealth or influence to be closed to him. He will spend the rest of his life regretting that he had it all, but lost it because he pursued a stupid vendetta."

The President, now realising he wasn't going to die, and that Sarah Jane was distracted talking to the Zygons, saw his chance. He leapt at Sarah Jane with a speed and agility that surprised himself, and pushed her to the ground. Before she had a time to react, his hands reached her neck and began to strangle her.

Still though, Sarah Jane showed no fear. No anger. The only reaction was to smile.

"Be scared you dumb woman!" The President shouted. "I'm killing you. I'm the one who will end your life. Stop smiling!"

Sarah just continued to smile as if his exertions had no effect. Instead of reacting with her face, she reacted with her knee. A swift strike upwards hit its intended target, and the President released her and he doubled over in pain.

Sarah got up off the ground, dusted herself off and looked down at the feeble man lying in front of her. "It's over, Mr. President. You're over. There is no escape, no revenge. Soon UNIT will be here to take you into custody, and there you will stay."

She stopped and listened to the sounds outside. The sounds of shouting, booted men running past corridors, and doors being knocked down.

"Listen," she said to no one in particular. "They're already here."


End file.
